During the summit in Alaska on August 15, US President Donald Trump hoped to reach an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, but he rejected the proposals and began a “ historical“ lecture. Puzzled, Trump raised his voice several times and threatened to leave.
The Financial Times writes about what happened behind the scenes of the meeting between Putin and Trump in Anchorage, citing several people familiar with the negotiations, Focus reports.
According to those familiar, the negotiations behind closed doors were tense and this meeting became the lowest point in relations between the US and Russian presidents, which led to a change in Trump's position in favor of Ukraine.
Trump welcomed Putin in Alaska with a handshake and a broad smile, but during the closed part of the negotiations, the warmth quickly disappeared. According to sources, in the presence of several advisers, Putin rejected the US offer of a ceasefire in exchange for easing sanctions and insisted that the war could only be ended if Ukraine surrendered and handed over most of the territory in Donbas to Russia.
Then, according to sources, the Russian president launched into a long “historical“ speech from the time of medieval princes such as Rurik and Yaroslav the Wise, and mentioned several figures, including the 17th-century hetman Bogdan Khmelnytsky, to substantiate his claims that Ukrainians and Russians are “one nation”.